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Charli took a sip of her tea and returned it to the table.
“How did you and I get together?”
She took a deep breath, like she was preparing herself. “A few months later, I came to school with a black eye. You wouldn’t let me leave the parking lot until I told you how I got it—the truth. You hugged me close and said I was going home with you.”
“How did it happen?” His hands clenched into fists. The thought of anyone hurting this woman made his stomach turn to stone.
Her eyes grew dark as her expression dropped. “I’d rather not relive that.”
He let out a long exhale he hadn’t known he was holding and nodded. “What happened next?” Finn’s shoulders bunched and his abs clenched as anger welled within him. He may not know Charli well, but what he did know is no woman deserved that.
“Your parents tried to get me help, but . . . my mom fought for me and lied to the police about how I got the bruise. I had to go back.”
He shook his head in disbelief.
“I’d sneak out some nights when it got to be too much. You got me a phone after the first time I walked to your house. After that you would pick me up to sneak me into your bedroom. I felt safe with you. Then you’d sneak me out in the morning before your parents or my mom ever found out. This went on until I turned eighteen and left for good.”
“When did we start dating?” Had he taken advantage of her in such a vulnerable state? They were only two years apart, but in high school that made a huge difference. Panic lanced across his chest. Maybe he didn’t want to know the old Finn.
“It was gradual. You never really asked me out. But one night I woke up from a nightmare, and you climbed into bed with me and just held me.” Her eyes grew watery as she turned to him with affection shining in them. “You usually slept in a sleeping bag on the floor when I came over.”
“Did I try anything with you?” He held his breath.
She shook her head. “No. You were the perfect gentleman. No matter how hard I tried to persuade you.” She smirked.
He released the tension in his body with the deep exhale.
“You waited until the dawn of my eighteenth birthday, and we shared our first kiss.” Her lips turned up dreamily.
A bubble of pride welled up inside him at his young self. Charli was gorgeous. Sleeping next to her with his raging hormones and not trying anything must have been torture. He picked up his coffee and took a swig of the cold liquid.
“Then you asked me to marry you.”
He coughed. “Wow. I didn’t waste any time, did I?”
Light laughter spilled out of her like glowing sunshine. The beautiful sound gave him a sense of familiarity. Like he’d heard this laugh a million times before. Warmth filled his chest.
“That wasn’t even the craziest part. Your parents knocked on the door and told you to come down to breakfast and bring me. Apparently, they knew you’d been sneaking me in for some time. They had a big breakfast ready. You drove me to my house to get my things . . .” Her smiling face fell, focused on the edge of her shorts as she ran her fingers across it.
What is she holding back?
“Within the month, we were married. Six months later, you joined the Army.”
“Damn, I moved quick.”
Charli giggled. “You’ve always been a man who knows what he wants and goes after it. Looking back, I can’t imagine how I’d react if my daughter told me she was getting married the day she turned eighteen.”
His gaze was drawn to her belly and the dainty hand resting over the small bump. “It’s a girl?”
“Oh, no. I mean, I don’t know yet. The appointment is in a couple weeks to find out the gender.”
He nodded, taking in everything she’d just told him. He searched his mind for anything, but no memories had been triggered.
Charli pulled out her phone and tapped the screen a few times before she handed it over to him. “This is our wedding day.”
He held the smartphone as his smiling and seemingly nervous face took up the screen. Finn wore a simple suit with a black bow tie. Bently, Mikel, and Andre stood by him in dress shirts and pants, laughing and teasing him from the looks of it. The camera panned around the room. All his friends and family were there.
“Did anyone from your family show up?”
